Monday, August 29, 2016

The Justification of Falling Standards: SOFREP and females in Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS)



First female to go through Special Forces Selection in September | SOFREP

I know that there aren't many people in the Special Operations community that look to SOFREP for the most informed or well-written articles. Generally, they are quite often considered an outlet like BuzzFeed for Special Operations...except you have to pay to see what is on the other end of their clickbait. 

Frequently, they have positioned themselves as a definitive voice of the Special Operations community in order to further an agenda instead of reporting the news. This article really takes the cake when it comes to pandering and misinformation.

"Stress cards are available in basic training for use when you’re overwhelmed."

No, they are not. Stress cards are a rumor started to symbolize how "soft" Basic Combat Training had become. Because as we all know, everybody went to the last hard class of [insert any Army school here]. Stress cards have never been part of the Basic Training experience, as a get out of overwhelming situations free card. 


In some sort of bizarro world logic, the lie of Stress Cards has been invoked not to disparage a new generation of "soft" soldiers, but to justify why we SHOULD coddle soft soldiers. And not just any soldiers, but Green Berets!  When this lie is utilized to justify why changing things to make them easier and more passable to women, you are spitting in the face of every man who has risen to the challenge, as well as any woman who might desire to meet the Exact. Same. Standard.